Reincarnation of the soul
by taste of terror
Summary: The hero of Olympus has fallen, died in battle. Yet has he really gone? When his colleges find a 3 letter note he left before he died, it all changes. How could Percy know he was not going to return? How could he leave his love Annabeth behind, to live in this cruel world alone? How could he? he could not, so he has done the only possible thing he can do. He has chosen Rebirth.
1. Chapter 1

People. Too many. Hurt my brain just looking at them.

We were in NYC, driving to a camp for gods (Something like that) summer had just started and now it was already ruined. It had all started yesterday, when my friend Douglas revealed to me that he was a satyr, a half-goat half-man animal. I had freaked out big-time, hey, it's not every day your best friend revels to you he has goat legs.

Then there was Clarisse, Daughter of Ares, god of war. I asked if she meant the dude from the video game, but she just gave me a look that said, I'm considering whether to kill you or not. She had come to "escort" me back to camp. LOL. I kept thinking this was a prank of some sort, but then she showed me her weapons, an electric spear, beautifully carved, and I started respecting her more. Whoever can handle that deserves some respect.

My mom stayed in North Carolina, she said it would be safer if we traveled without her. I disagreed, but I didn't want to cause a scene in front of our new guest, Clarisse. So here we are, about 11 hours later, driving our lives away, I had long since given up the feeling of puking, I felt that every 3 minutes.

"Can we stop? I need to use the restroom" I asked. It was a lie; I needed to get out of this car. Douglas had eaten all the Doritos 3 stops ago, and I had nothing to do except watch him drool on his shirt.

"No" Clarisse said, keeping her eyes on the road, not even glancing in my direction. "Can we stop? I need to use the restroom" I repeated, I wasn't one to give up easily. "No" she said again, I got the feeling that she wanted to keep her distance from me, like she didn't want to get involved with me. I also got this feeling from Douglas, like they were hiding something from me.

Finally after some begging, fake tears, and some arguments, I got her to stop at a gas station. We parked in the back, to draw less attention Clarisse said. As I entered the gas station, Douglas asked me if I had some money for Doritos, I handed him a couple dollars and he gave me a handful of coins in return, Douglas was weird like that. Clarisse insisted she stay with me, but as I entered the bathroom, she stopped at the entrance. I looked back at her and cocked my head into the bathroom, "Stopping so soon?" I said with a disappointed tone, "I thought better of you," I exclaimed as grin slid across my face. She didn't show any emotion, just said "Be quick".

Public bathrooms are one thing, public bathrooms in NYC are another thing, but this one was a whole different thing. The first wave that him me was the smell, rotten, is the only word that crossed my mind. The second was the taste; I know you're probably thinking, how can you taste a bathroom? And I don't know, but it just made my mouth fill with disgust, I might as well have eaten a raw chicken. Then, at last, I saw it, a man, crooked, with an ugly green jacket and dark jeans, old he was, facing the wall, he was shivering, muttering something that only he could have understood. He had little hair, and the little he had looked burnt. I immediately turned around and started running towards the exit, I was only three steps away, but as soon as I turned the man materialized in front of me. I tried to scream, but the sight of his face closed my vocal cords. His face, I remember every single detail from it. Burnt, like he has walked through fire. Then claws of animals, all around, specifically on his upper mouth, it was yellowish with some kind of liquid pushing out of it. His lips were gone; you could see the muscle where his lips should have been. As quickly as he appeared he grabbed me by the throat and lifted me with one hand. "You're back, I see" His voice. I will never forget it, it has made its way into my memory, rooted itself in. Raspy, frustrating, dead. Dead. I cannot describe it; there are simply no words to describe its horror. I will let your mind take care of it. His rotten fingers gripped my neck, I was surprised at his strength, but the only thought that came into my mind was death. I tried to focus on other things, Douglas, when he was hungry, then I thought about Clarisse, three steps away, she was. Yet so far away. The coins, a distant, god like voice said, The coins! It seemed to be frustrated at my ignorance. For a second, it was like my mind cleared, I focused on the disgusting face in front of me. The coins! I though, with my last bit of strength, I grabbed the coins from my pocket and threw them against the bathroom mirror. I dimly heard it, for I was already slipping away, then, everything went black. I could no longer think.


	2. Chapter 2

I'm dead.

That's the first thought that crosses my mind. Everything's white, I look down and my body seems solid, good, I think, I'm not a ghost yet, I feel like an intruder, like I'm interrupting a meeting, I try to remember what happened, when I think of the man's face. "Do not be afraid" a familiar voice says, I'm startled for a second, but then I can sense that this voice is good, it doesn't want to harm me. It's a female god-like voice. That's when I realize, it's the voice that whispered to me during my last moments alive.

"Who?" I manage to get out. My throat felt like it was on fire, I was grasping for air. "My dear, I missed you, do you not remember me?" the voice, it hypnotizes me, it is easily the most beautiful sound I've ever heard, and I do nothing but stand there staring into nothingness when I realize it's waiting for me to respond, so of course, like an idiot, I simply say "No" my voice sounds pointless compared to hers, I do not know what else to say, but I feel as if I have hurt her, I feel like I have disappointed her somehow, I start to feel like I'm burning away, leaving this beautiful place, just when I'm about to leave, she says "Do not worry dear, It will all be alright" and as if somebody hit a switch, everything turns into a nightmare, the man who killed me is there, in front of me, he's smiling. The room turned into an underwater hell. I couldn't breathe, the man starts shaking uncontrollably, and screaming, I catch only one word. Percy. He says it with disgust, like the word is an ancient evil. The man glances to where I'm standing but somehow doesn't see me. I cannot breathe, I'm suffocating, just when I feel like I'm going to black out, everything becomes clear and I'm suddenly grasping for air, but this time, in a car, in NYC, next to a, goat?

ANNABETH

I'm in the denial state. This could not be happening, this was happening. Every second I expected to wake up and realize this was all a nightmare. But the pain in my gut reminded every second that this was real. Not even the worst of nightmares could compare to what I was feeling. The Athena campers had unexpectedly crashed the Hermes cabin, nobody wanted to be around me during these times. This of course was against the rules, but Chiron could make exceptions, even Dionysus kept his mouth shut when Chiron announced it. One week. I haven't left the Athena cabin in one week. Piper brought me three meals a day, she kept trying to talk to me about it, but I had no interest in taking to anybody. I think a daughter of Aphrodite would understand that. Everything they had been through, the Titan war, Gaea awakening, all of it, and he leaves me now? I couldn't bear this. There was only one thing to do, lay on the bed and cry, so I did just that. After what felt like hours, I finally cried myself to sleep, hoping the nightmares would leave me alone for one night. But of course, darkness was no ally of mine. They had tricked her into letting them pass through her very own realm! The nightmares were the same, the battle, the knife, the blood, his dying face, his last words. The scene was repeating in my mind when all of a sudden a horn blew. I was drenched in sweat, breathing quickly. The arrival of a new camper. Who cares? Really, who the hell cares? There is no need to wake everybody up just to announce there's a new guy. I hate everything, I thought as I made my way out of bed to change my shirt. Percy…Malcolm, my half brother, blasting through the door brought me back to the moment. He had apparently not gotten the memo to not bother me. "Annabeth! Come! There's a new guy!" he said with excitement. For some reason this made me mad, "I don't care Malcolm! Nobody does!" I suddenly lashed out at him. He looked hurt, but stood his ground "Annabeth, please, this is related to Percy." Now that got my attention, I turned to look at him, my face doing the talk for me, what about Percy? "Just come Annabeth, please" they both hurried through the door, running towards the camp's entrance. I saw groups up ahead, the camp had adopted a kind of depressed mood ever since Percy…he was a leader hear, a figure to look up to, and now he was gone. As we made our way across the strawberry field, campers started avoiding me, scooting over for me. There was some gossip going around about me going crazy. They weren't that far off. We finally made our way to the entrance, were a group of campers were huddled around someone, forming a circle. At the sight of me, they immediately made a pathway into the middle, as if this was my business. I awkwardly made my way into the center, not knowing what to expect, I saw a boy around my age, sitting on the floor, grasping for breath, what's so special about him? I thought, but then somebody lighted up a torch and the boy turned his head to look at me. That boy, looked exactly like Percy.


	3. Chapter 3

I can't think. I see figures around me, a grey eyed girl in front of me. Some sound seems to be coming out of her mouth that I can't comprehend it, I think she's shouting, her voice hurts my mind, for every word she says it feels like a stab in the brain. She goes up to and kneels down next to me and for a second I think she's going to yell at me, but instead she just looks into my eyes, like she's trying to figure me out., she forces me to make eye contact with her and I swear you can see the universe in them. She looks confused for a second, like she's trying to decide what to do, and then she holds up her hand, I feel as if she's going to cuddle my face like my mom did when I was younger, but instead she brings it down with just enough force to bring me back to my senses. My eyes snap open and I say the only worthy thing of saying, "Aw!" I exclaim, the pain isn't as bad as the feeling, I feel, evicted somehow. Before she can answer I stand up, but as soon as I do the world starts spinning with great intensity and I find myself back in the cold hard ground. "Don't try to stand up" she says, her voice is very delicate, like it might break any second. "Did you come here alone? Are there any others?" somebody hands her a bottle and she force feeds it into my mouth, god that stuff tasted delicious. Sweet but somehow sour, cold but somehow hot, delicate, but somehow intense.

"They were just behind me, but-"I stopped talking as memories stormed in. I got up to my feet so quick that for a second I felt like passing out, but the girl quickly steadied me. "We need to, to go-"my stupid brain couldn't stop focusing on a far away fire in the distance. Why couldn't I form a proper sentence? my brain was pounding against my skull, I felt like throwing up. I tried again, knowing it was pointless "need help" I blurted out as darkness embraced me and I, unwillingly, gave in.

For a second, I don't know who I am. My mind is as blank as space. Then, all at once, everything comes back and I'm suddenly wishing this was all a dream, but the pain in my chest tells me otherwise. The moonlight shines through the windows, falling beautifully on a sleeping girl. She is blonde with a touch of innocence, though the dagger hanging limply at her side gives me the feeling she is all but. I scan my surroundings for an exit, the place is ghost-quiet which makes it harder, but I can do it. There's only white curtains' separating me from the unknown, so I just need to walk out without waking her up. I turn around and quietly hop out of the bed. I stand only for a second before the nerves in my legs scream out in pain and I go down, letting out a huge moan of pain on my way. My chest is so sore I can't move at all, and to make matters worse the girl wakes as if from a terrible nightmare, she kneels down next to me, and for the first time in a while my thoughts become clear. The camp for half bloods, the guy in the bathroom, the monster on the hill. "Don't try to move" her voice is very clear and sensible, with a slight touch of sadness, I immediately feel like helping her. "Let me help you up" she slides her hand under my body and pulls me up so I can sit on the bed, my chest immediately starts hurting and I feel like throwing up. "What's your name?" she says, with a deep sense of curiosity.

"Percy" I reply.


End file.
